Strapless brassiere



April 1956 F. v. GRAF STRAPLESS BRASSIERE Filed March 26, 1954 FRED V.GRAF INVENTOR- BY MG. 3.32:

HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent O STRAPLESS BRASSIERE Fred V. Graf,Los Angeles, Calif. Application March 26, 1954, Serial No. 418,925 4Claims. (Cl. 2-42) This invention relates to a strapless brassiere andmore particularly to an improvement over the structure shown in mycopending application Serial No. 361,112, filed June 2, 1953, now PatentNo. 2,721,324.

It is an object of my invention to provide a strapless brassiere havingbreast supporting wires which are so scientifically designed as to givethe wearer less wire to cope with and still comfortably support thebreasts.

Another object of my invention is to mount a removable breast cup on twowires which are independent of each other.

With my invention, a belt is provided which extends around the body ofthe wearer, directly above the hips. The belt is equipped with a pair ofmetallic mounting members having arcuate tunnel paths which are adaptedto removably receive the correspondingly arcuate lower ends of a pair ofwires. Each of the wires has an additional arcuate section at the upperend which is inserted into an arcuate tubular seam extending along theedge of a breast cup, all of which parts are exchangeable and made invarious sizes. 7

It is among the objects of my invention to provide a strapless brassierein which the wires can easily be attached to and detached from both thebelt and the breast cups and to provide a strapless brassiere in whichthe length of the belt may be varied and in which the size, shape andpositioning of the breasts of the wearer may be accommodated by makingproper adjustments of the wires supporting the breast cups.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a strapless brassierein which the breast cups mounted on the wires cannot possibly twist,turn or be altered from their correct positions, thus assuring theproper positioning of the breasts at all times.

My invention also comprises such other objects, advantages andcapabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherentlypossessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments ofmy invention, it should be understood that the same are susceptible ofmodification and change without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is a front elevational view of mystrapless brassiere, showing a complete assembly of one embodiment of myinvention in which a metal member having punched lace portions providesa mounting for the wires.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of my inventionin which a tubing provides a mounting for the wires.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a pair of mounting wires adaptablefor use with a shorter waisted person than the wires shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the pair of wires shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the breast cup wires shown in Fig.l.

2,740,122 Patented Apr. 3, 1956 Fig. 7 is a plan view, mostly in sectionof an embodiment of my invention in which only one length of tubing isused as the mounting for the wires.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the same, showing a wire inserted in thetube.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the rear of the belt, showing the lacing usedto join the sections of the belt together.

One embodiment which has been selected to illustrate my inventioncomprises a belt 10, which is preferably formed of foundation garmentwebbing or other suitable material. Belt 10 is adapted to be worn sothat it encircles the body of the wearer just above the hips, with thebottom of belt 10 resting on the hips. An elastic insert 11 is providedon each side of belt 10 to permit belt 10 to stretch slightly in use.

Belt 10 is provided with two sections, which may be joined together atthe back and/or front, as the wearer desires. The means of joining maybe hooks and eyes 12 or lacing 13.. The use of lacing 13 permits thesize of belt 10 to be adjusted to the wearer for separation and bodysize.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a plate 14, which maybe formed of aluminum, steel, plastic or other suitable material isattached to belt 10 by sewing or other fastening means extending througha plurality of openings 15.

Plate 14- has convexsides and is concaved to fit against the body. Thecenter of plate 14 is preferably open, to lessen its weight. Each sideof plate 14 is provided with a plurality of projections 16, which arepunched from the bottom of plate 14 to provide a plurality of smallloops and tunnels which are disposed in an arcuate path along each sideof plate 14.

Breast cup mounting means is provided in the form of a pair of breastcup wires 17, each of which has a lower arcuate mounting portion 18which corresponds to the curve of the arcuate path formed by projections16 of plate 14. to be inserted beneath projections 16 in the mannershown in the left half of Fig. 1. Stop means 19 are provided adjacentthe end o'f'each of the paths of projections 16.

Each of wires '17 is provided with a straight portion 20 of diiferen'tlengths, which extends upwardly from the top of mounting portion .18,and a conn'ectingconvex breast cup portion 21. A breast cup 22 isprovided with a pair of convex channels 23 adjacent the sides thereof,correspending to the arcuate curve of wire portions 21 or wires 17. Theends of wire portions 21 are inserted into slots 22a of the lower endsof breast cup channels 23. The upper ends of breast cup channels 23 ofbreast cup 22 are closed to hold the breast cups 22 from slipping down.

Another embodiment of my invention which is shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawing comprises tubular members 24, each of which comprisesapproximately a half circle and which are attached to belt 10 by anoverlay 25, which is formed of a double layer of cloth and which extendsover tubular members 24. Overlay 25 is attached to belt 10 by stitchingor other suitable fastening means, with the top of tubular member 24open to permit the ends of wire 17 mounting portions 18 to be inserted.

A pair of tubular members are shown in the embodiment illustrated inFig. 2. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, a single tubular member 24 isshown, having mounted therein midway between its ends a stop 25a. Thissingle tubular member is equivalent to a pair of separate tubularmembers.

A solid aluminum stop member 24a is attached to belt 19 by stitchingwhich extends around a pair of grooves 24b. Stop member 24a is providedwith a pair of pins 240 at the opposite ends thereof which guide tubularmembers 24 into the proper position and. act as a stop for the ends ofWires 18.

This embodiment of my invention works in the same manner as the onepreviously described above, with the arcuate lower mounting portions 18of wires 17 corresponding to the curve of tubular member 24 and adaptedto be removably inserted therein. A strap 26 may be attached at one endto the belt and'at its opposite end to the side of the breast cup.

By changing the shape of breast cup portions 21 of wires 17, provisionmay be made for smaller or larger breast cups placed closer or furtherfrom belt 10 to accommodate different sizes and proportions which may beneeded. For example, Fig. 3 shows the wires 17 which would be used for ashort waisted woman.

It should be noted that the lower mounting portions 18 of wires 17 whenonce mounted cannot twist or turn and must always remain in the sameposition. This provides a more rigid form of construction for astrapless brassiere than has previously been possible. It may also benoted that my brassiere rests on the hips and shifts the weight of thebreasts to the hips, where such Weight can best be carried.

In order to permit adjustment of the separation of the breast cups, Imay provide a pair of plastic members which are attached to the belt 10.Such plastic members would be provided with top and bottom tracks. Theplates 14 would be slidably mounted in the tracks, so that they could bemoved closer together or farther apart, with means for preventing suchmovement after the proper separation has been established.

With my invention, different shapes of breast cups and differentpositioning of the breast cups may be accomplished by merely changingthe shape of the upper half of the mounting wires and the shape of thebreast cups as desired.

It is preferred that the tubular members 24 used in my brassiere beremovably mounted beneath the overlay 25. In this way, they can beremoved for laundering of the brassiere. Tubular members 24 may compriseextension springs as well as ordinary tubing.

I claim:

1. A strapless brassiere comprising an elongated belt adapted toencircle the body, two pairs of substantially rigid tunnnel pathsfixedly attached to said belt adjacent the top edge thereof, each pairof said tunnel paths comprising two oppositely disposed arcuate segmentsof a circle, each of said arcuate tunnel paths having an open upper endand a closed lower end, two pairs of breast cup wires, each pair of saidwires having a substantially hourglass shape, with lower arcuatemounting portions corre sponding to the arcuate shape of said tunnelpaths and integral upper similarly shaped breast cup portions, the lowermounting portions of said wires being slidably and removably mounted insaid arcuate tunnel paths through the open upper ends thereof, saidwires being held from twisting movement with respect to said belt bysaid rigid arcuate tunnel paths, the breast cup portions of said wiresextending directly upwardly from the top edge of said belt, a pair ofbreast cups formed of textile material, each of said breast cups havinga pair of arcuate channels stitched in the outer opposite side edgesthereof, each of said channels having a closed upper end and an openlower end, said wires being removably and slidably mounted into saidarcuate channels through said open lower ends, said breast cups beingrigidly mounted and held above the top.

edge of said belt.

2. A brassiere as defined in claim 1, each of said wires having astraight portion between its mounting portion and breast cup portion tospace said breast cups upwardly from the top edge of said belt.

3. A brassiere as defined in claim 1, each of said tunnel pathscomprising a piece of hollow metal tubing, each of said pieces of tubingbeing attached to said belt by a cloth overlay, each of said clothoverlays comprising a double layer of cloth overlying said tubing, saidoverlays being stitched to said belt on both sides of said tubing.

4. A brassiere as defined in claim 1, said tunnel paths comprising theopposite ends of a single piece of hollow metal tubing, said tubinghaving a stop member mounted therein midway between its opposite ends,said stop member adapted to limit the insertion of said wires into saidtithing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS471,597 Bouchard Mar. 29, 1892 1.020,2l3 Martell et al. Mar. 12, 19122,526,230 Heller Oct. 17, 1950 2,539,396 Basch Jan. 30, 1951 2,675,549Schwaiger Apr. 20, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 51,033 France Mar. 4, 1941

